In automated Test and Assembly systems, robots are employed to move devices or modules (Device Under Test; DUT) from one location to another. For example, one or more robots may be employed to pick up a DUT from a DUT carrier in a loading port or conveyor, move the DUT to a test position, move the DUT to one or more intermediate locations (e.g., sequential testing), and move the DUT to one or more test exit locations, depending on the test results.
Typical robots employed in test and assembly systems can be of the type commonly referred to as SCARA (selective compliance assembly robot arm) robots. These SCARA robots include jointed arms that are movable in an x-y plane but not individually movable in the z-direction. That is, the arms may be bi-fold arms movable in the horizontal plane. For example, in an arm with two links, the arm is able to extend out into a space and fold back or retract upon itself within the horizontal plane. This movement is beneficial for transferring objects from one cell to another, such as transporting DUT's to and from test positions.
However, the cost for each SCARA robot unit may be prohibitive for some use cases. That is, a SCARA robot having multi-jointed arms requires multiple radial drive motors to control movement of the arms about a horizontal plane. A SCARA robot having multi-jointed arms that is employed in a use case that does not require movement about the horizontal plane of a SCARA robot would not need to use one or more of the radial drive motors. That is, the SCARA robot having multi-jointed arms would have extraneous features that are unnecessary and that add to the total cost of the SCARA robot.
Further, SCARA robots typically are limited in the number of arms used for manipulating objects. As such, in order to increase the number of objects being manipulated, additional SCARA robots are required. However, additional SCARA robots necessitate an increase in the footprint of the robot system. Many use cases cannot accommodate an increase in the footprint of the robot system, and as such, the overall system has a hard limit in the number of objects that it can handle and/or manipulate over a period of time.
It would be beneficial to design a robot capable of handling objects in a rectilinear fashion, and for handling a greater number of objects without necessarily increasing the footprint of the robot.
The background description provided herein is for the purposes of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure
It is in this context that embodiments arise.